Format

PowerPoint presentations usually begin with a title slide that may contain the name or the
topic of the presentation and sometimes will contain the name(s) of the presenter(s). The
title slide is followed by content slides that contain information usually in the form of
text---often in the form of a bulleted list---and sometimes graphics. Examples of graphics
that may be contained in a PowerPoint presentation include charts, graphs, diagrams,
screenshots, photos, movies and animations. A final slide or group of slides is sometimes
included to wrap up the presentation, for example "Conclusions," "References" or a slide
with the text "Questions?"

Function
 PowerPoint presentations are popular in business meetings, both face-to-face and
teleconferenced. PowerPoint presentations are often used in business to present training
material. Many college professors now use PowerPoint presentations for their lectures
instead of writing information on the chalkboard or whiteboard before each class.
PowerPoint presentations also are often used by students to give in-class presentations.

Software Information
 PowerPoint is developed, manufactured, and marketed by Microsoft Corporation. It is
bundled with some versions of the Microsoft Office suite and is also available for
purchase as a stand-alone product. PowerPoint is available for both Windows and Mac
OS platforms.
Features
PowerPoint software features and formatting options include a wizard that walks you
through the presentation creation process. Design templates---prepackaged background
designs and font styles that will be applied to all slides in a presentation---can be used, or
you can create your own slide design if desired using a combination of layout
arrangement, background color, text font and color, and extras such as call-out boxes,
graphics (from clip art or from a file), photos, diagrams and movies. Sound can be added
to a presentation from a PowerPoint library of sounds, from a saved music file, from a
CD, or sound can be recorded using a microphone.
When viewing a presentation, slide progression can be manual, using the computer
mouse or keyboard to progress to the next slide, or slides can be set up to progress after a
specified length of time. Slide introductions and transitions can be added to the slides.
For example "fade through black," "checkerboard across" or "random transition."

Viewing Presentations
 PowerPoint presentations can be viewed on a computer on which PowerPoint software
is installed. Alternatively, PowerPoint Viewer is available for free download from
Microsoft's website for individual use. PowerPoint presentations can be viewed using
PowerPoint Viewer, but cannot be created or edited.

Parts of the PowerPoint screen:

Title bar - displays the document name
Menu bar - click on a menu option to see a list of commands
Standard toolbar - frequently used menu options
Formatting toolbar - displays formatting commands
Placeholder - click or double-click to add an element to a slide
Outline view button - displays document in outline form
Slide view button - displays slides one at a time
Slide Sorter view button - displays all slides in a single screen
Slide show button - displays slide show
Drawing toolbar - displays drawing tools
Status bar - shows the current page number and position of the insertion point in the
document
Office Assistant - quick help when you need it